Out of Eden by Alan Burdick

INVASIVE species have spawned their own specialists, "invasion biologists", described by science writer Alan Burdick as "ecology's emergency-room physicians". Out of Eden is as much about these scientists as it is about the species they study: the invaders who threaten biodiversity.

Burdick starts with the brown tree snake - which has caused the extinction of several bird species in Guam - and the people who pursue it. The snake now poses serious threats in other parts of the world, including Hawaii, where many endemic species have already been lost to introduced organisms such as rats, Plasmodium relictum (the parasite responsible for avian malaria) and feral pigs.

Hawaii is a perfect backdrop and exemplar, with its dwindling number of endemic species, rising number of invasive species and declining indigenous human population. Burdick's sub-plots, including one about a Hawaiian pig hunter and the scientists studying the potential role of pigs in the ...

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